By Vitus Gregory Gondwe
I still don’t know what is wrong with the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). Or maybe it is something embedded in its DNA.
The MCP of old was vindictive, murderous, and primitive in its approach. When multiparty democracy returned, I thought things would change. With a former Reverend at the helm, I expected a breath of fresh air. That is why the party enjoyed so much goodwill when Malawians voted it into power in 2020.
But perhaps a barbaric streak never really leaves the DNA. The MCP we grew up dreading quickly resurrected in this multiparty era. It purged its alliance partners and silenced dissent with force.
I began my journalism career in 1993, when the wind of change had just begun to blow. I knew then—as I know now—that journalism must provide checks and balances. As the Fourth Estate, our duty is to expose wrongs across the executive, the judiciary, the legislature, and yes, even within the media itself. We too have been compromised at times, and acknowledging that is part of serving the public honestly.
When Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda mishandled the government’s dealings with Zuneth Sattar, instead of accountability, he unleashed the Malawi Police. They raided our PIJ offices in Blantyre, arrested me, and confiscated my laptops and phones.
Later, when we exposed misprocurement in the Malawi Defence Force under the direct watch of its Commander, soldiers were sent baying for my blood. I had worked through the UDF, DPP, and PP eras, and while those regimes had their overzealous henchmen, their attacks came with some restraint. What the MCP unleashed was different. They even threatened my family—my young children. That remains my deepest fear: what might have happened had the MCP remained in power, because I was never going to relent in exposing wrongdoing.
oday, my prayer is that the DPP government does not inherit MCP’s sinister hostility toward the media. Our promise to DPP is simple: we are here, and we will be vigilant. PIJ exists to serve the public, not those in power. We will not sleep on the job. We will not be compromised.
